The Unwanted Life
by She's From Ouran
Summary: Zuko used a potion on Katara to try and gain her love, but when it fails, after he's already killed three people to gain her love, he tries to gather the recipes for a time traveling potion.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The First Recipe**

****As he set her down onto the bed, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you," her voice barely a whisper. She kissed him on the cheek, making his stomach flutter. He crept away to his own bed as she fell into a deep, endless sleep. If only he could have stopped her.

"Leave her," the woman told him. "She is just fine without you." But she wasn't. She was dead without him. Just like everything else was.

This life, this wondrous life that was created with a spell, it was all over. She wouldn't be there when he woke up in the morning anymore. She would be... gone. Gone with another, another who had been killed by him.

As Zuko crept under the covers, he stared at Katara's lifeless body. She had loved him like he had always wanted her to. But it wasn't real, or was it? Could he call a mythical spell true love? He didn't suppose so...

The weight of Zuko's crime weighed heavily on him. The witch had told him that he had to kill the girl's true love, Aang, before any spells would work. So he did. Burned him to a crisp. Sure, he really would have died eventually, but he didn't have another hundred years. Knowing the airbender, he would refreeze himself in ice. Then what could he do than search around the globe again for a big ice chunk?

He slept shakily, all the time thinking of the life he could have had without Katara and her meddling friends. He wouldn't have had to kill his friend, and he wouldn't have had to experience her death of sadness. Which brought him back to an itching question...

Why wasn't he good enough for her?

It was too late. He was too late. His nightmares began to take over his thoughts, seeing glimpses of her dead body in different areas: Floating in the river, tangled in swamp vines, lying in the fire nation factory. All of those near escapes she had informed him about, all of them with the Avatar and the swordfighting master. None with him.

The fire lord had tracked the swordfighting master also. He had to kill him. Exactly what he did. He gathered the blood of the man and brought it to the enchanted witch. He also brought the essence of his sister, Azula. For a very odd reason, he felt very upset about the loss of Sokka, but didn't care at all for his sister. Probably because of the fact that he was almost killed by her.

The sweat drenched the sheets. He cleared them off of the bed and set them on the floor. He strolled down to the edge of the water. "Spirit of the Moon, hear my cry."

As he wept, the spirit returned the favor with a tear of gold, the first recipe for a potion he had been begging for since the first sign of Katara's sickness.

He would use the tear to go back in time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Face Stealer**

As if his very long, very persistent prayer had been answered, he found himself killed. Or was he dead before then? No, he was pretty sure he was killed. Maybe not, though. He could feel the heat, but that didn't mean that was what killed him. His main concern was not the fact that he was killed or died but what ever happened to his true love.

The boy peeked through the cloud barriers every single night. He would watch the girl, breathing heavily through her nightmares. They seemed to cut his heart every time, like the sharp knife of death did to him.

Aang had been killed by his friend. His own friend, and he knew exactly why. Zuko had asked Katara out a number of times, unluckily late. He tried to talk the girl into going out on one date with him, but she refused. "You don't know what he'd do to me," she would say. Oh, how he missed her voice...

Yes, in that cloud kingdom above the sky, he would visit his old friends: Yue, Jet, Roku, Kyoshi, Sokka. They would avoid the others such as Admiral Zhao and Azula. Even if they were spirits, they could harm them.

Rumor had gotten around that there was a way to exit the cloud kingdom. Sure enough, there was, but it was a very difficult process. For one, there was no way to make their way into Koh's lair to complete the process. The friends sat and discussed the plans they had to get out and escape the wonderful life above the sky. Finally, with enough wisdom from Kyoshi and Roku, they learned that the face stealer only accepted a few into his lair. Aang stood and grabbed Sokka's wrist. "Koh has let me into his lair before," he said, "and I'm sure he'll let me in again."

"I'm going with you."

"No!"

"Yes, Aang. I won't leave your side."

The airbender thought this through. Having another would calm the nerves of showing no expression at all... "Okay, fine. But promise me this. You will show no emotion whatsoever."

"Okay, I promise."

The two trudged up the long mountain where Koh lived. Sokka complained numerous times about having sore feet, even if he was a spirit. Then he complained there was nothing to eat. And finally, after Aang thought he was done complaining, he began to complain about losing his life to Zuko. "I mean, seriously! I thought we were supposed to be friends! Apparently not, though."

"Yes, Sokka. I know how you feel. He killed me too, remember?"

"Yeah, but really? Him? How did he kill me?"

"The same way he killed me."

Sokka was quiet the rest of the way as he listened to Aang talk about his sister. He talked about her in such a loving way...

They stepped into the dark cave. A large centipede-looking creature crawled along the walls. "A-A-Aang?" Sokka stumbled.

"No emotion at all," he whispered back. "He won't hurt you."

As the creature crawled its way out of the shadows, Aang let out a shriek, gathering Koh's attention. He returned his emotion to normal in time, but his head was buzzing with confusion.

How had Koh gotten Katara's face?


End file.
